An Emmaus man remained in critical condition last night after being chased down and captured by a former Lehigh University wrestling champion Saturday morning for an alleged armed robbery and burglary in Salisbury Township.

Ronald L. Dries, 29, of 78 White Oak Lane was reported in critical condition in Lehigh Valley Hospital Center, but details of his injuries were not available from police.

According to Allentown police reports and a neighbor of the alleged victim, Dries was one of two people who apparently tried to break into the home of Warren G. Keiser in the 2000 block of Edgemont Drive.

The neighbor is Mark Lieberman, 29, a two-time NCAA wrestling champion while at Lehigh University.

Lieberman said that sometime before 9 a.m. Saturday, Keiser found the two men trying to enter his garage. Lieberman said Keiser locked himself in his car and blew the horn to alert his wife who was inside the house.

Lieberman said Keiser had been tied up, beaten and robbed in early August.

The two men fled and were spotted by Lieberman, who was out walking his dog.

Lieberman said the pair were dressed in black and wore black ski masks. "I honestly thought they were kids up to some mischief or some vandalism," he said.

He said he chased the two, thinking he would catch them, "take them to their folks and shake them up."

Lieberman said he chased the pair around his house and past a few neighbors' homes before they ran onto Meadowbrook Circle and split up. He said he "randomly" chose one of the two - later identified as Dries - and chased him back toward Edgemont.

Lieberman said he eventually caught Dries when he lost ground after falling while running through some trees.

It was then that Lieberman saidhe saw Dries reach to his waist and draw out a revolver.

"All of the sudden the game changed very quickly for me," Lieberman said.

Lieberman said he brought Dries to his knees using wrestling techniques. He said he managed to wrestle the gun away from Dries and told him "if he moved I was going to shoot him."

For whatever reason - the gun was later found to be empty - Dries grabbed the gun away from Lieberman and the two struggled again. Lieberman again got control of the gun.

In between, Lieberman said he "had to clunk him (Dries) on the side of the head a few times when he kept pulling on the gun."

At that point, Lieberman said he realized that he probably wouldn't shoot Dries anyway and threw the gun away. Unfortunately, it hit some nearby bushes and bounced back within Dries' reach.

At some point, Dries produced a pair of handcuffs and fastened one to Lieberman's wrist.

Lieberman finally applied another wrestling technique, using an "arm bar" to turn Dries from his stomach to his back and pin him spread-eagle.

He said Dries continued to fight, trying to gouge Lieberman's eyes, kneeing him and biting him on the chest.

"He was just whacko," Lieberman said, "he was just about out of control, berserk."

"I was scared," he said, but he later added that "it's all instinct when you get into those situations."

Lieberman said he pinned Dries for about three to five minutes before police found him. "That seems like about four years when you're fighting for your life," he said last night.

Dries was later charged with armed robbery and burglary.

Police said details about the incident and Dries' injuries would not be available until today.

According to a report by Allentown police, who were called to assist, the second suspect was armed with a .32-caliber revolver and escaped.

Lieberman said he received bite marks on his chest, cuff marks on his wrist and various scratches and scrapes from the encounter.

Allentown police said Dries was arrested on Oct. 3 in the 2300 block of Lehigh Street when his vehicle was stopped during a check in connection with a robbery in Lower Saucon Township.

Police said they found a sawed-off shotgun in the trunk of the car, and Dries was taken to Lehigh County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail. He was charged with having a prohibited offensive weapon and possession of instruments of crime.

He was transferred to the Northampton County Prison and was released on Oct. 16.

According to Morning Call files, Dries was also charged on April 5 in connection with the Jan. 22 robbery of a Merchants Bank branch in South Whitehall Township in which $2,750 was taken. He was released on a $50,000 signature bond.